24 Oct 2016

The Bangwato capital, Serowe will on November 5 host a cultural event dubbed Ngwato Folklore Festival at the Serowe Show Grounds.
The event will be graced by the Royal Queen of Bafokeng of South Africa as a guest of honor.
According to the event coordinator Evans Kesiilwe, the festival, which is scheduled to be celebrated annually will give Serowe an opportunity to diversify its tourism portfolio by introducing an event that caters for every tribe in the village.
“We have this year taken a bold step to host a cultural event under the theme Phuti Thebe ya Bangwato as a way of looking closely at the cosmopolitan culture of Serowe which is made up of different tribes. This is to build solid ground to create social cohesion and unity, to preserve our culture by showcasing what we are as Batswana.” he said.
The idea was made possible by Phiri Tourism Consortium and engaged Sparkle Arts, Kgama III Memorial Museum, Bona Botswana and Botswana Traditional Games Association (BOTGA) to reinforce the strategies of resuscitating culture in Serowe.
“Our hope is that it will grow through the years and that we will be able to preserve and develop the cream of song and dance hence we found it fitting to invite the Royal Queen of Bafokeng to be our guest of honor and main speaker at the event,” he said.
He also revealed that the event will be celebrated through variety of traditional meals that will be available with recipes of how to cook them, song and dance, art and crafts language, games, dress, literature as well as performing arts.
He said BOTGA will coordinate traditional games including traditional dress parade as well as performances by Serankure traditional group, Mmabesi Afro Band, BJ Trio and Anju Tapani from North West province in South Africa. Botswana Agricultural Marketing Board (BAMB) has also contributed sponsorship to help make the initiative a success.
The organisers also revealed that on the morning of the event, a traditional Selei will be used to transport the Royal Queen of Bafokeng from the Kgotla to Serowe Show Grounds.
“We also plan to put together a live demonstration of skinning of a beast and cows as well as separation of body parts from skins. ENDS